Recovery
by cowgirlangel95
Summary: It had been over two months since the accident, and almost every night Farkle relived the nightmare. Not his parents, not his friends at school…not even Maya knew about the nightmares. He didn't want to bother them over nothing. It was nothing…right? Maya/ Farkle. Rated T to be safe, "Don't Let Go" universe


_**A/N: Okay, so I decided to write a follow up of 'Don't Let Go'. I was hesitant whether to post this to not, but thanks to some persuasion from Xxxx4evaSummerxxxx, I'm posting it.**_

_**Disclaimer: Don't own it. Never have, never will**_

_Farkle wrapped his sweater a bit tighter around his body as he continued to walk down the road. It had started to rain a few minutes prior, and the dampness in the air sent a chill down his spine. He continued on his walk over a bridge and paused once he reached the center. A lot of turning points in his life seemed to involve a bridge somehow, whether it was a literal or a figurative one._

_A screeching sound reached his ears. He turned to see what it was, but only saw a flash of light before he went flying through the air. Farkle's forehead crashed onto the slightly raised sidewalk, and the air was forced out of his lungs once he landed. He heard several cracks and snaps coming from his body. And then it happened._

_The wave of pain._

_Farkle desperately wanted to cry out. He managed to let out a soft moan, but the pain was too great for him to yell anymore. Something warm and sticky started to trickle down his face and into his vision._

_From what he could see, Farkle thought he saw someone crouching right beside him. He couldn't understand what the person was trying to tell him. All he wanted that person to do was to make the pain stop._

_The person faded from his vision, and Farkle felt his breath escape him as darkness fell around him. _

* * *

Farkle's eyes snapped open, his chest rapidly rising and falling. He ran a hand through his hair and looked at his surroundings. He was at home, in his room, in his bed…not there. Farkle sat up and looked at the time. The little digital clock that sat beside his bed flashed '2:55 am'.

It had been over two months since the accident, and almost every night he relived the nightmare. Not his parents, not his friends at school…not even Maya knew about the nightmares. He didn't want to bother them over nothing.

_It was nothing…right?_

Farkle laid himself back on his bed and covered his face with hands. For once he was glad it was summer. He didn't want to have to do anything, and the fact that he wasn't sleeping well made him all the happier there was no school work to be done. All he wanted was the nightmare to end.

* * *

A soft buzzing brought Farkle out of unconsciousness. The sun was shining into his bedroom, and the birds were singing. Farkle shifted his attention to the buzzing coming from his side table; it was his phone.

He picked it up and smiled when he saw that it was a text from Maya. The one good thing that happened from that night was that they got together. He figured it would have happened eventually, but he was glad it was sooner rather than later.

**Maya: Hey, going to be at Svorski's at 11. Up to meeting me there? :)**

Farkle looked at his clock. It was already 10:40 in the morning. He hadn't realized that he slept so late…he didn't even realize he fell _back_ asleep until the text message came in.

_Farkle: Sure. May be a few minutes late, but I'll be there. See you then!_

He got up, headed into the bathroom, and looked in the mirror. It didn't take a genius to realize that he hadn't gotten much sleep just by looking at his face. Dark circles were starting to form under his eyes, and instead of his face looking full of energy like usual, it looked drained.

Farkle quickly got ready and headed out of the apartment. He was hoping that somehow Maya wouldn't notice how poorly he looked, but once he entered the little bake shop and made eye contact with her, her expression changed from happiness to worry.

"Farkle, are you alight?" she asked as he sat across from her in their booth.

He shrugged. "Haven't been sleeping the greatest lately. Other than that, I'm fine."

Maya raised an eyebrow. Farkle didn't like it when she did that. It meant she knew there was something more.

"You know you can tell me anything. Kinda comes with being in a relationship."

Farkle nodded. "I know. But it's nothing, really."

_What's nothing?_ Maya thought. She wanted to pry more because she didn't like to see him hurting, but there was no use in getting him to try and tell her something when he doesn't want to. When he was ready to tell her, he would.

The couple spent some time talking and eating chrusciki* before they decided to take a walk around the city, hand in hand. They decided to head over to the park, but once they reached the bridge that led into the park, Farkle froze.

Maya looked at him. His eyes were wide, and his face was pale. "Is everything okay?" she asked slowly.

"Yeah…I'm sorry, Maya. I just realized that I have to go do something. I'll call you later, okay?"

Maya nodded as he placed a kiss on her forehead and turned in the opposite direction. She watched him as he was walking away. His pace was faster than usual, as if he was trying to get away from something.

Maya glanced at the bridge in front of her. She was rather puzzled to the fact of why Farkle would be nervous going into the park.

* * *

Maya pressed the buzzer to the Matthews' apartment. "Hey goofballs, it's Maya."

There was a few second delay before Riley answered. "Come on up!"

Maya took the stairs up to the apartment two at a time, and entered the apartment, finding Lucas and Riley cuddling on the couch.

"Well, you guys sure are fast," Maya joked.

Riley blushed slightly as she looked up at her best friend standing in the door way. "So what's up? Farkle with you?" Riley asked.

Maya walked in and sat down on the coffee table in front of Lucas and Riley. "Nope, just me. He's actually who I want to talk to you about. Has he seemed a bit…I don't know, off to you recently?"

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "I haven't noticed anything, but we haven't hung out in a while. We were going to earlier this week, but he said something came up."

"Why do you ask?"

Maya crossed her arms. "There have been quite a few times since his accident where he's looked rather drained. He said it was from physical therapy and school work, but now that both are over, he still looks like that every few days. I asked him if there was something wrong earlier, and he didn't really give me an answer. We were going to go for a walk in the park, but when we reached the bridge, he froze and said that he forgot he had to go do something. When I looked back in his direction, his pace was a lot faster than his normal one, as if he was running away from something. I know something is wrong…I just can't place it."

All three friends were silent while each of them were lost in thought.

Lucas was the first to speak. "You said that he froze once you reached the bridge?"

Maya nodded. "Yeah…" she trailed off, slowly putting the pieces together in her mind. Her eyes grew wide. She stood up and headed out of the apartment without saying another word to Lucas or Riley.

Once the door shut, Riley turned to Lucas. "The bridge? Was it…?"

Lucas nodded. "It was probably the same one. And he can't face it again."

* * *

Maya stood at the end of the bridge. She walked along the sidewalk, and once she reached the center of the bridge, she crouched down closer to the pavement. Large, faded dark spots were splattered across the cement by her feet. Maya's eyes began to fill with tears. All she had been told was that he was hit on a bridge. She didn't realize it was this bridge. The same bridge that he found her under all those years ago.

_I know it must be hard coming here, but why did you run from it? I'm here for you; it shouldn't be that hard, would it? What aren't you telling me? What haven't you told me?_

She stood back up and let out a breath. There was one thing she knew for sure. Maya was going to find out what was wrong with him. She turned on her heel and headed to Farkle's apartment.

Maya stood in front of Farkle's apartment door. The last time she was here, she was helping him home from the hospital, about two weeks after the accident.

* * *

_Minkus opened the door to the apartment as Maya helped Farkle inside to the couch. Farkle was glad to be home. After two weeks of doctors buzzing around his bed, he was ready to enjoy the silence. Unfortunately, he still had to go back for physical therapy. If he had a choice, Farkle wouldn't go back, but at least for physical therapy doctors wouldn't be around him constantly._

_Once Farkle was comfortable on the couch, Maya sat down beside him. "How ya doin'?"_

"_Better…now that I'm actually on something comfortable instead of that miserable excuse for a bed."_

_Maya let out a soft laugh. "Can I get you anything?"_

"_Glass of water?"_

"_You got it," Maya responded. She stood up and headed into the kitchen._

_Once she was out of sight, Minkus came over and sat on the coffee table. "It's good to have you home."_

_Farkle nodded. "It's good to be home," he replied, looking in the direction that Maya went. "With everyone."_

_Minkus smiled. As Maya came back into the room, Minkus stood up. "I'll let you two be," he said, heading off into his office._

_Maya handed Farkle the glass and sat down next to him. "Better?"_

_Farkle took a sip and nodded. "Thanks."_

"_Farkle, I know that this recovery process for you is going to be a long and hard one. No matter what happens, I'm here for you. Don't ever hesitate…okay?"_

_Farkle took ahold of Maya's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I won't"_

* * *

She inhaled deeply and knocked on the door. After a moment, Farkle opened the door. Maya looked at him; he looked even worse than before.

"Maya, what are you doing here?"

"Why shouldn't I be?" she responded, stepping past him and into the apartment.

Farkle closed the door and put his hands in his pants pockets, not saying a word to his girlfriend.

"Come on, Farkle…talk to me. You've clearly been hiding something for a while, and it has to deal with the bridge by the park and your accident. What's going on? You know I'm always here for you. Why won't you talk to me?"

Farkle's head dropped. "I didn't want to bother you."

"Why would you be bothering me?"

"Because it happens almost every night," he whispered.

"What happens every night?" Maya asked softly.

For the first time since Maya came in, Farkle made eye contact with her. His eyes were watering, and his face paled. "I relive it almost every night…and every time it happens, I'm so afraid I'm not going to wake up. And when we were going to the park, I forgot we had to cross that bridge to get there. It's like everywhere I go, there's something there that will remind me of what happened. I don't want to go through it anymore."

Maya walked up to Farkle and hugged him tightly. "Why didn't you tell me? I would have helped you."

"I thought it was nothing," he whispered, the tears finally falling from his eyes and soaking into Maya's shirt.

"I know, but it's not. I don't like seeing you like this. Please let me help you."

"How?"

They released from the embrace. "The same way that you helped me."

"You think it will work?"

Maya nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

* * *

Farkle looked into his bathroom mirror. It had been two weeks since Maya found out, and his outer appearance had improved. The dark circles had disappeared, and his face looked to have some more energy.

When Maya found out, she sat him down and did the same thing that he did for her nearly five years ago. She had him tell her everything that had happened. The accident, the nightmares, and the fears he gained from the accident. Afterwards, Maya consoled him the best she could, and explained why it shouldn't bother him anymore. The accident didn't happen because of him or the bridge. It happened because of a drunk driver.

It would take a while for his mind to recognize that the bridge wasn't a symbol for what happened, but that was alright. Maya would be there with him.

Farkle lay down in bed and closed his eyes. And like the days after he told Maya, it was a peaceful sleep.

**_* chrusciki: a Ukrainian cookie that is similar to fried dough._**

_**A/N #2: Hope you guys enjoyed it. If you could leave a comment on your way out that would be great. Until next time. ~cowgirlangel95 out**_


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